Ciao Italy! (Part 1)

Are you sitting comfortably? Because here is the blog you've all been waiting for, the recap (at least the first part) of our fun-filled, action packed adventure to Italy! It started off on a Monday morning, our flight was scheduled to leave at 9:10, which meant we had to be at the airport by 7:00 ish (this is all in the 'am' by the way). We woke up on time, got out of the door on time, made it to the airport on time and on to the plane on time. We were a little worried because the flight took place right over Amelia's nap, but we didn't have much of a choice, so we decided to pack lots of treats and toys to entertain her.

We were the last ones on the plane, mostly because they didn't announce it was boarding and we just happened to look over and notice that the waiting area was a lot emptier. But we made it on, and found, much to our delight, that we had all three seats to ourselves. This allowed for me to sit by the window, Matt to sit by the aisle and Amelia to walk back and forth.

We waited on the plane for the usual signs of them getting ready to take off. After about 20 minutes, we noticed that nothing was happening. Eventually the flight attendant announced that there was a problem with the toilets and the engineers were fixing them. So we waited some more. And some more. After sitting at the gate for an hour (and remember, we've got a girl who has missed her morning nap), they announced that we'd be switching planes. They gave us the new gate number and off we went.

Only to wait for that plane to get ready. We waited at the gate for another hour. Now our flight to Pisa was only 2 hours, so we would've landed by the time we actually boarded. Luckily for us, Amelia did fall asleep in her stroller in the airport. We were last to board again, but mostly because we wanted to let her sleep for as long as possible.

So at 11:30, we were finally in the air and on our way to Italy!

The flight was fine. Amelia was really good during it and had no problems with her ears or anything else. We landed in the small Pisa airport and were able to clear passport control and customs quickly. We found that there was a bus that went very close to our hotel, so we hopped on and our adventure began!

Now, traveling with a small child, as you may appreciate, puts an entirely different spin on vacations. In the old days, Matt and I would be out all day, only returning to the hotel at night. But with Amelia and her need for naps, we knew we'd have to be a little more casual. Which was okay, we've been a busy family of late and needed a nice break. We also chose Pisa to go to on our first night, because there really isn't much to see there, other than the tower. So we knew we could relax after the flight.

We found our hotel without any problems and we were very impressed by it. It was the best of the three hotels we stayed in. The room was a very good size, especially for a European room, and they had a nice cot all ready for Amelia. We were able to put her cot into the bathroom, so she could sleep in quiet, and we could still move around. It was the perfect situation (when we needed to use the facilities, we just went to the lobby, it was better than waking her up)!

But I digress. We checked in, saw our room, hung out for a bit. And then we were off to see the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa! We booked a hotel close to the tower on purpose, so we were able to walk there without any problems. It's interesting because you just walk along a normal street, and then all of the sudden you see a walled off area, and under the archway there it is! It really is impressive to see, and definitely worth the trip to Pisa to see it.

Here are some pictures (I know that's what you all really wanted to see anyway):





And the usual tourist snaps:










(she's not too interested is she?)

After spending a couple of hours at the tower, we decided to get some dinner, and where did we have our first meal in Italy? It's a very fashionable restaurant called McDonalds. Yes, I know what you're thinking. But remember, we had a tired girl who hadn't napped, and there really isn't a lot to do or see in Pisa. The McD's was right there, by the tower and we were hungry and not in the mood to explore to find something else. Plus, like I said, Amelia was getting really tired, really fast. And we do have a thing where we try to eat at McD's in every country we visit (I don't know why, it just kind of happened and now we like to do it and compare tastes...don't judge). So we ordered our food and found that we like Italian McD's the best. Their Happy Meals come with fries and fruit. And if you order a water instead of a soda, it's a big bottle, at the same cost! Yay.

So after dinner we headed back to our hotel where Amelia immediately dropped off to sleep and Matt watched the England v Mexico match on TV and I read my book. Not a bad way to start a vacation, eh?

More to follow but here's a video for now. Ciao!